Old Photographs
by apollo122music
Summary: SPOILER ALLERT! do not read unless you have read and completed The Son Of Neptune. i was not satisfied with the ending, so i kinda made another chapter in Frank's POV. please enjoy!


**SPOILER ALLERT! IF YOU HAVE NOT READ, AND COMPLETED THE SON OF NEPTUNE, I ADVISE YOU DO NOT READ THIS STORY. And if you shall choose so, do so at your own risk. I will not be put to blame if any of you read this story, and feel as though I have ruined the story for you. **

**_I do not own any characters; they all belong to Rick Riordan. **

As soon as they met, Frank knew Leo was going to be trouble. Just the way Hazel reacted; the expression on her still exhausted face.

"And you must be the ever famous Percy Jackson," the boy said, cracking a grin as the two boys shook hands, "I'm Leo Valdez, head of the Hephaestus cabin," he introduced himself to the trio.

"Im' Frank Zhang, son of Mars Ultor," I said cautiously, extending my hand. I shook Leo's hand, and immediately recoiled. Even thought he'd given Hazel back his lifeline the other night, he felt a burning sensation shoot up his arm and straight to his chest pocket- where he'd previously kept the piece of tinder.

"Leo's expression was shocked for a moment before he masked it with humour.

"What? And I too hot for you? He joked, but Frank could tell Leo was hurt.

"S-sorry," he stammered, and Hazel squeezed his hand. Percy gave him a weird look, but shrugged it off as he was tackled to the ground by a tall blonde screaming bloody murder,

"Perseus Noah Jonathon Jackson!" She roared. Now, Frank had thought that the blonde would be crying and hugging, because the girl was honestly Annabeth, but instead was beating him mercilessly (though avoiding his face with her punches).

"Annabeth!" he cried, taking a vice grip of her wrists. As soon as Percy had her wrists, she broke down crying, and fell into his chest. His arms wrapped around her, and he buried his face in her shoulder.

Hazel let out an awkward cough, and Annabeth immediately pulled herself together. She stood up, leaving Percy on the ground, still trying to get rid of the tears that had gathered in the corner of his eyes. He laughed as Hazel took Annabeth's outstretched hand as she introduced herself to us,

"Hello, I am Annabeth Chase, Head of the Athena cabin, and so thankful that you two kept this idiot alive- which I might add from personal experience, isn't the easiest thing ever," she said, rolling her eyes, but also giving them the best thankful look she could probably manage. Frank got the feeling that she didn't thank many people, and if she did, then it was for a very good reason. He could only imagine what it had felt like for her, to have Percy gone for over 8 months and still have held it together for her friends and family. It must have killed her. It would almost be comparable if Thanatos had taken Hazel back to the underworld, but Frank didn't want to think about that. He was just glad she was here, holding his hand, "Oh gods, get up off of your lazy butt Seaweed Brain, and introduce me to your friends," she said sternly.

He shook his head and got up quickly, straightening out his clothes before taking her hand and grinning like an absolute mad man.

"Annie, this is Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque. Frank's a son of Are- I mean, uh, Mars Ultor, and Hazel's Nico's half sister, but it's kind of a long story," he told Annabeth, realizing his mistake too late. Hazel's expression darkened as she dropped my hand and ran towards the coliseum. Percy cursed to himself in what I assumed was Greek,

"I- Annie, I should go get her," he muttered to Annabeth. Her dark grey eyes flashed murderously for a moment before I interrupted her thoughts,

"Hey, uh, Perce," Perce? Where did that come from? "Um, I'll go after Hazel. You need some time to catch up with Annabeth, you've been away for a long time," I said awkwardly, giving my new 'friend' Leo a look.

"Yeah, um, I'll go and see if the Stoll's have messed anything else up…" he said, trying to follow my lead, but just as he turned, Percy's voice spoke up excitedly,

"Travis and Connor are here?" he asked like a little kid asking for candy.

"Uh, yeah. They're on the boat… where I'm going to go now… _adios amigos_," he started backing up as he spoke, and turned just in time to miss Annabeth smacking Percy upside the head, but he didn't complain, he simply kissed her on the cheek and she practically melted like butter. As Leo scurried away, I did my best to follow his example, but then I realized after a few steps, that Hazel didn't deserve to wait.

Frank's speed walk turned into a sprint until he searched the coliseum and found Hazel crying in one of the marble bleacher stands, where the fifth cohort would sit during battle's and challenges. He dropped down beside her and enveloped her in a hug. They were so close that he could feel her tears on his forearm, which made him feel worse.

She collapsed into his body and sobbed out words, but he could only understand some of them,

"Tried… Keep so strong… i… couldn't… wouldn't… let you worry…. Silly… Girl…. Me…. important…. Too important quest…." She sobbed.

Frank felt awful, the entire quest he'd been only thinking about him, only been worried about his life, his family. But what about Hazel? She'd kept a strong front the entire time; she'd only ever cried _once_. Well, that he knew of.

She was too strong for that; he was the weak one.

"Hazel, please stop crying, I'll do anything for you if you stop crying. I hate it. I hate seeing you so sad," he told her repeatedly.

After a while, her sobs calmed down to soft choking sounds, but she made no intention of letting Frank go- though he didn't seem to mind.

"T-thanks," she whispered quietly, untangling herself from his arms, much to his disappointment, "I- we should get back. That was rude of me to run off on Annabeth and Leo like that," she scolded herself, getting a sad look in her liquid gold eyes.

"No, don't worry about it," he told her as reassuringly as he could manage, standing up beside her.

Frank hadn't realized, just looking down on her how tiny she was- even for her age. Her birthday would be soon, too. December 17th. It would be her first birthday in modern times; she would be 14. Well, technically she would be 83, but who really wanted to count that high? At moments like this, Frank wondered if he really did have ADHD like a few of the others at Camp Jupiter.

"Thanks Frank, she told him as she turned around to start walking back towards the forum, but Frank wasn't done yet. He caught her arm,

"C-can you tell me one thing though?" he asked her, watching her expression.

"About freaking out over Leo?" she asked timidly, closing her eyes as if trying not to blackout again.

"If you would…" I said quietly, trying to prompt her, but not too much pressure. She sighed, and turned back around,

"When I was young, when I lived in New Orleans, I had a… a boyfriend? Though I'm not sure you could've really called him that at the time. His name was Sammy Valdez," she explained, sinking to the ground once again. Frank sat down in front of her.

"And Leo… he looks exactly like him. That boy from the picture in Alaska, the one Percy said he'd seen before... that was him right? That was Sammy?" He asked, finally putting two and two together, "That's why you screamed when you saw the message on the parchment, you thought it was Sammy, right?" he asked her carefully, searching her expression, though he could tell she was guarding her emotions.

"I- I don't know how, or why, or even when, but Leo … he- he must be Sammy's great grandson, or _something_," she murmured to herself.

"It's ok, Hazel. We'll figure this all out when the time comes. But I believe I told you that if you stopped crying, I'd do anything for you. Do you have anything in mind? He asked, trying to cheer her up. She smiled a small smile,

"Gods, Frank," she laughed. It was really good to hear her laugh, "Um, how about dinner, and maybe a movie?" she asked, lowering her face to hide her flush of crimson.

"I think I could manage that," I said, taking her hands in mine and kissing her on the cheek, "But for now I think we should get back before they think we've finally decided to escape or something," I laughed, pulling her up as I stood.

"You are amazing, Frank Zhang," she told me, making me feel as warm and fuzzy inside as she stood up on her tip-toes and kissed me for the second time, straight on the lips. I still couldn't figure out what I'd done or what kind of great thing I did to get a girl like Hazel.

I could only hope to keep her in my grasp until it was time for me to go, but to be honest? I didn't even want to think of that damn stick. My lifeline that Hazel was keeping close to her heart. I couldn't imagine loosing her, or even missing her for a day. It will be a hard year, I can tell now. But the way Percy looked at Annabeth, even after all this time apart. And going from not remembering anything but her name, to remembering everything about that girl, it made Frank want something like that. Even if he could get a few months with Hazel, he knew he'd be lucky even then.

So he prayed to Venus that very moment that they would have some form of forever together. But he didn't know what was to come, and then again; what lasts forever? Even in the immortal world.

**So yes, I just finished the book today, like literally an hour or two ago, and you wouldn't BELIEVE how furious I was with the ending! LIKE HONESTLY? So I decided I would write some form of a final chapter that would keep me from sending a threatening letter to Mr. Riordan about how to finish his books properly. I've honestly never read a cliff hanger this bad in any books I've read. It kinda pissed me off a little. BUT I TOTALLY CALLED IT ABOUT LEO AND SAMMY! I KNEW IT FROM THE MOMENT PERCY SAID **

"_**I'VE SEEN HIM BEFORE," **_

**I WAS LIKE HOLY CRAP IT'S GONNA BE SOMETHING ABOUT LEO. AND GUESS WHAT. I WAS RIGHT! sorry for kinda freaking, but I'm like, NEVER right about anything. So yeah. I thought I'd share. Comment your favourite part of the book if you'd like! I feel a freakish need to discuss it right now…**

**-apollo122music**


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